Starting points Miro Heiskanen23, for the season were good.
A fresh head coach, who previously gave good results in San Jose and Vegas Peter DeBoer was about to activate the team’s puck play, in addition to the Swedish brake John Klingberg had traded to Anaheim.
Of course, Klingberg acted as a brake for Heiskanen only in the possession game. In terms of total playing time, Heiskanen had been his team’s number one defender for a couple of years already.
However, Klingberg was the conductor of the first superiority composition until last summer.
It could not be unseen in Heiskanen’s powers.
It was somewhat confusing that the personal points record of a top individual of Heiskanen’s caliber was only 36 (5+31) power points entering the current season.
It’s different now.
In the regular season that ended, Heiskanen, who was promoted to the first strength composition, played almost a minute more strength play per match than a year ago. It was visible.
Heiskanen doubled his own points record and now it is recorded as 11+62=73.
At the same time, the point record for defenders in Dallas club history was broken. My companion was left behind Sergei Zubov.
According to the Finns, the trick fell short – now Heiskanen shares the all-time top spot together with the defensive legend Reijo Ruotsalainen (28+45) with.
An important point to note is that Heiskanen actually did not change much in his playing. Along with the normal development of a young player, the most important factor in the huge increase in performance can be found in the dominance game.
– The responsibility of the superiority game has been the biggest change for me. However, in previous years I have already played the most and received a lot of responsibility, so it was not a big deal for me to be the number one defender. Of course, it brings a little boost to self-confidence when you get to play a lot and get those successes and points even when you’re outnumbered, Heiskanen says.
Getting past Zubov and next to the Swede, in the club of legends, makes Heiskanen humble.
– It wasn’t the first thing in my mind when I came to the NHL that I would reach such achievements. It’s a great thing and a great honor for me, because there are some pretty tough names with the same readings. All in all, a really cool thing, Heiskanen rejoices.
In the same breath, Heiskanen also reminds that this is how the season was supposed to go.
– It was nice to get those points in the sense that I have had a goal to find even more efficiency in my game. When they come, self-confidence grows, and you don’t really have to think about it, adds the defender who moved from HIFK to Dallas.
At the same time, Dallas, who activated their game, scored no less than 281 goals, or 3.4 hits per match. The average value is the highest quote in the Dallas years of star jerseys, and after the defensively victorious years, the thanks also go to the coaching. Naturally, the change suited Heiskan like a perfect fit.
– I really liked the game we played. Now we played more on the puck, we were more active and it worked well for both me and the team. If we talk about points, I didn’t change anything in my own game, I activated a little at most and jumped from time to time to support attacks.
It should also be noted that Dallas did not attack at the expense of defense. The average number of goals conceded (2.6) is the lowest in the Western Conference and the third lowest in the entire league.
Reijo Ruotsalainen: season 1984–85, Rangers, 80 games, 28+45=73 power points
Miro Heiskanen: 2022–23, Dallas, 79, 11+62=73
Reijo Ruotsalainen: 1982–83, Rangers, 77, 16+53=69
Pekka Rautakallio: 1981–82, Calgary, 80, 17+51=68
Risto Siltanen: 1981–82, Edmonton, 63, 15+48=63
Snacks for anything
Dallas enters the playoffs starting in second place in its own division, after accumulating a six-game winning streak at the end of the regular season. They will face the Minnesota Wild in the opening round, followed by the eventual reigning champion Colorado.
Heiskanen’s eyes are already on the future.
– The regular season went well, but the work is still in progress. The regular season doesn’t matter if we don’t win the whole thing. That’s what we’re playing for here, to go all the way in the playoffs.
– We have a good gang, but there are going to be tough series, and from the beginning you have to hit the table the best, Heiskanen insists.
There are conditions.
Jake Oettinger has played a good season in goal, the defense is high-quality and Esa Lindell mixed Jani Hakanpää through the likes of orderlies suitably rough, besides which there is depth in the attack. In the regular season, Dallas had six 20-goal and five 70-point players.
And Dallas isn’t at this dance for the first time. The team reached the Stanley Cup finals two years ago in Edmonton’s corona bubble.
– I’m sure we’re a bit more ready through experience and there are a lot of the same faces from previous years. In the past, we were perhaps relying too much on one chain, but now there are a wider range of solvers and that is a really big deal for us, Heiskanen assures.
You can find the NHL’s playoff pairs and the Finns seen in the playoffs in this story.
Below you can listen to the latest Ika änäri episode. Boston’s unfathomable winning record, Carolina’s streak, and Finnish players are discussed as well Juuse Saros and Mikael Granlund. You can find all Ika änäri podcasts at this link.